Bulldogs sweep Friars

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Junior Casey Ostrander (Yarmouthport, Mass.) set pool records in three events and senior Alex Kosenski and freshman Graham Beck each won three events to lead the Bryant University Men's and Women's swimming teams to victories over Providence College on Wednesday night at the Chace Athletic Center Pool.

After falling by a point last year, the men's team earned a bit of revenge with a 137-125 victory over the Friars, and the women cruised to a 168-94 victory. In all, the Bulldogs set seven pool records on the evening.

An eight-time winner already this season, Ostrander added three more victories against the Friars, winning the 50 free, 100 free and the 100 fly. She not only won the events however, she broke pool records in each of them. Her time of 24.31 in the 50 free was 10 hundredths of a second quicker, her 100 free time was nearly a half a second better and despite swimming the event for the first time this season, her time of 59.24 in the 100 fly was 13 hundredths of a second quicker.

Not to be outdone, sophomore Taylor DeBever (Denver, Colo.) was also perfect on the evening, winning the 200 free for the second time this season and the 100 and 200 back events. The Bulldogs (2-4) also got first-place finishes from Kim Carballeira (East Setauket, N.Y.) in the1000 free, Molly Smith (Belmont, Mass.) in the 200 breast and 200 IM and Caitlin Hanahoe (Prairie, Minn.) in the 500 free. Smith's time of 2:25.04 shattered the pool record that she set against Boston College by over two seconds.

Bryant's 200 medley relay team started the race off on the right foot, setting a pool record with a first-place finish of 1:51.02. Unsurprisingly, that quartet also featured Ostrander as well as Brianne Dwyer (Hicksville, N.Y.), Kaitlin Buckley (Duxbury, Mass.) and Amy D'Olympia (Mattapoisett, Mass.). The Bulldogs closed out the event with a victory in the 400 free relay, winning the event by just over three seconds.

The Bulldogs also received strong performances from a slew of swimmers. Corinn Wolf (Hackettstown, N.J.) had one of her best meets of the season, finishing third in the 1000 free and setting a season-best time of 5:34.08 in the 500 free, finishing second. Abby Whittaker (Salisbury, Mass.) recorded her highest finish in the 200 fly, finishing second. Katherine Unger (Orangeburg, N.Y.) finished third in the 200 fly and the 500 free, setting season-best marks in each event.

On the men's side, the Bulldogs (3-2) returned to the pool for the first time in nearly two weeks with a ball of fire. Cameron Hessler (Southbury, Conn.), Beck, John Lawson (Bernardsville, N.J.) and Nicholas Karadimas (New Milford, Conn.) started the meet with a pool-record victory in the 200 medley relay, breaking a two-year old record. Bryant won eight of the first ten events, and then had to hold off a late charge from the Friars, closing out the meet with a four-second victory in the 400 free relay.

Both Kosenski and Beck were a perfect 4-for-4 on the night to help the Bulldogs defeat the Friars for the first time in program history. Kosenski won the 50, 100 and 200 free for the second-straight meet, making him 6-for-6 on the season. He set a pool record in the 200 free, breaking his own pool record for the second time this season with a time of 1:45.12. Beck put together one of the best meets of his young career, winning the 1000 free with a time of 9:59.60, missing out on a pool record by 15 hundredths of a second. He went on to win the 100 breast for the second time this season and won his first 200 breast event. He won the 200 breast by seven seconds.

Freshman John Lawson (Bernardsville, N.J.) also had another strong performance, winning the 200 fly and finishing second in the 500 free and third in the 200 IM. In addition to helping both relay teams to victory, Karadimas finished third in the 200 free and second in the 100 fly.

Both the men and women will head to Loudonville, N.Y., this Saturday, Nov. 12, to face Siena College and Niagara University. The meet is scheduled to begin 1:00 p.m.